We all love a good laugh, but haven’t we all been in that awkward moment when someone takes it a little too far?
If someone admits that a joke rubbed them the wrong way, that’s not the moment to complain about politically-correct culture or send a quick Tweet about oversensitive millennials. We all know that, just as a smile or encouragement can lift someone out of a dark day, a sarcastic jab can shove a person into one.
But more than just the general warning, I want to highlight specific topics to avoid, and the reason that this is more than just "thin-skinned PC culture."
Certain groups of people, like women, suffer certain kinds of oppression. When people joke about rape, for examples, that reinforces a culture in which many women fear rape as a legitimate threat. Of course, it can also activate flashbacks, heightened anxiety, or just hurt like a knife in the gut to hear a traumatic experience trivialized.
It’s likely that you’ve heard about this issue before, but you might not have seen this handy tool called the Pyramid of Hate:
See how it works? For example, in "Pitch Perfect 2," "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia," "House," "Bob's Burgers," "Arrested Development," and other shows, none actually feature any regular transgender characters, but do mock them regularly. Media portrays transgender individuals not as three-dimensional people, but rather as the subject of mockery and derision.
This perpetuates step one of the pyramid by reinforcing prejudiced attitudes, and those who laugh at such jokes are participating in step one of the pyramid by supporting prejudiced attitudes.
If you or a friend refers to transgender people with a slur (like ‘tranny’, 'queer’, etc.), refuses to invite them into your friend group due to their identity, or jokes about them, then you’re applying step two of the pyramid by acting on prejudice.
I’m sure you can see how the rest follows. Outside of media, transgender people fair no better. Few states protect them from employment or housing discrimination, conservative churches bar them from membership, crimes targeted at transgender people are not classified as hate crimes in many states. They face high rates of homelessness and unemployment, and trans women have even died from being denied a spot in homeless shelters for their identity.
A quick Google search reveals that a large number of transgender people report cat-calling or other forms of harassment such as physical touch or shouted slurs. And in 2015, the number of homicides against transgender people reached an historic high, demonstrating the final results of the pyramid.
Matt Walsh, self-proclaimed "professional truth sayer" who blogged about Caitlyn Jenner during her transition, specializes in attacking and misrepresenting transgender people. First, he lied to his audience about an article apparently demonstrating that transgender people often regret transitioning, to the point of attempting suicide. But, as Brynn Tannehill notes, the Guardian study Matt cites actually showed that patients reported benefits from the surgery, and the small sample size prevented any definitive conclusion.
After deceiving thousands of readers, Matt directs a number of insults at transgender women -- embarrassing, disgusting, selfish, perverted, delusional, ill, and a burden. He does not spare other members of the LGBT community these insults, calling them sick and incapable of monogamy, among other things.
Disagreement with another person does not require personal attacks, which Matt and others spread across the Internet, signaling to thousands of readers that they, too, can hurt anyone they dislike.
Additionally, Matt often mocks trauma victims. For those unfamiliar with the term, triggers refer to a real psychological reaction to stimulus. A veteran with PTSD, for example, might experience flashbacks while viewing a war film, or even while doing something unrelated. A rape victim might experience flashbacks after overhearing a joke. A "trigger warning," reminiscent of the movie rating system (the existence of which somehow doesn't spur jokes), sometimes accompanies articles or books that mention such content.
Bloggers like Matt obviously think that's pretty funny, and he's not the only one laughing - click around on the Internet, and you'll find plenty of people deliberately, maliciously poking at an open wound as they mock the idea of trigger warnings and the people who request them as a "weak liberals" who wanted to be "coddled."
This, along with the startling statistics about the poverty of minorities such as transgender people, should particularly concern Christians familiar with Proverbs 17:5. This verse says that “whoever mocks the poor brings shame to his Maker; those who rejoice at the misfortunate of others will be punished.”
That isn’t just one verse out of context—the Bible has countless verses about respecting the misfortunate, and Proverbs has a lot to say about “mockers”.
Jesus didn't even tell the prostitutes that he believed them incapable of monogamy, nor did he tell the deceptive tax collectors that they were an embarrassment to Jews, though I'm sure the child of God could think of a lot of snappy insults if that were his style.
Transgender people aren’t the only groups that face these frightening numbers of poverty, harassment, and bodily harm. Women, racial minorities, people with disabilities, and religious minorities face issues of their own.
Prejudice against African-Americans, for example, begins with jokes and slurs. It ends with police brutality and hate crimes.
The pyramid I referenced is used by psychologists to teach university students about the Holocaust.
When will we stop laughing?
